Feeling Merry (a.k.a. Christmas 2009)

Where to start, where to start...

Now sometimes going to McCall is stressful. There are always so many people that we want to see, people that we should see, and inevitably--by the end of the trip--lots of people that we don't see. Ugh. We tend to feel stretched in all different directions. But for some reason, on this past trip we didn't feel stretched or stressed. Instead, we had a ton of fun! Maybe, just maybe it was because I prayed (a lot) for a "go with the flow" attitude! Unfortunately I don't always come by one naturally. But I try (most of the time)! Sometimes though--darn it!!-- a plan is good! So I'd like to believe that my attempts to "go with the flow" married with my Type A planning made for a good vacation experience for all parties involved.

You wouldn't have known that McCall is "home" because we were like super tourists! Seriously. Just doing our part to support the local economy, right? That's my angle, and I'm sticking to it! So here's a sampling of our jam-packed week...

First, I give you Christmas Eve and morning (before all the touristy stuff):

Another classic Ryan Family Christmas Eve photo shoot! Can you see me back there??? Ha! Ha!

You might be wondering why I didn't post a better shot. Because there isn't one! :)

The Chinese princess and kung fu ninja

Chef Molly testing out her skills with her new cookbook

A Christmas reading (of sorts)

New Christmas jammies

Getting right to work on the new Lego set

Still working...

Ta-dah!

Sledding at "the old dump" (it's a McCall thing) was one of the few FREE things we did! Ha! Ha! It was a fun afternoon with the cousins...after we found just the right hill.

Cousin Whitney

Cousin Mackenzie

The next day we did some downtown sightseeing and window shopping before heading over to Chuck and Robin's rented condo.

The Ryan siblings--Take 1

Take 2!

Gold Fork Hot Springs was a real treat! All that snow and ice around us; yet we were toasty warm in the water!

Then it was time to hit the ice rink.

Happy

Happy

More happy

Still happy

Most definitely NOT happy

D-O-N-E

So we moved on to sledding at the Activity Barn!

Ready...

Set...

Go!

And in case you're wondering...Yep, a few other people were supporting the local economy that day, too! Holy long line!

Skiing at Brundage came next. Except for Molly. She got to stay with Grandma, and they rode to town on the "city" bus, which Molly likened to a ride at Disneyland! What could be better than taking the bus to the grocery store and getting a corn dog?! Happy girl she was!

There were 2 parts to our day--the pre-edgie wedgie experience and the post-edgie wedgie experience. Above, that was pre-edgie wedgie. It didn't go so well. (If you don't know, an edgie wedgie is a simple apparatus that connects the tips of kids' skis, pretty much forcing them into a pie (wedge) shape. Seriously worth the $9. In fact, I'd kiss the inventor if I could!)

Because see? He skied!

And if I don't post the pictures, I/we'll never remember that we probably let G ski about 1 hour too long, right? And I/we'll forget that there may or may not have been 1 (or a few) major fits! Yeah, let's go with that theory and instead just post this nice picture of lunch in the car where he at least looks like his half day of skiing ended on a high note! Ha! Ha!

Snowmobiling was our last adventure of the week. I was really excited, as I had never really been on an actual "trip". And though it was cold and snowing sideways at times, it was totally worth freezing my face and fingers for!

Dave's brother, Mike, was our tour guide. He took us up to Burgdorf--an old mining town. These days people (except for a few "colorful" folks) don't live there permanently, but there's a natural hot springs that you can pay a few dollars to use. It's REALLY rustic but fun in a "you've got to try it at least once" kind of way. :)

The not-so-fun part was shedding a bazillion layers in the freezing cold just to use the outhouse! Bleck! Frozen toilet seat!

So, there it is--Christmas 2009. We went, we saw, we spent...and I'm only 5 months late in posting the proof!

Excuses

So (again) it has been awhile. A long while. And I do have plenty of excuses, even some pretty good ones. But truthfully I cannot blame my lack of blogging solely on our family's computer misfortunes. True, the desktop pc did quit working and true, we switched internet service providers and lost our wireless connection for a time. A long time, actually! But really, sadly I was mostly just lazy. But then I found that the laziness gave way to a certain sense of freeness! Like maybe, perhaps, I had turned blogging into something that wasn't very enjoyable anymore. Like maybe, dare I say, a competition? Ick. You know, like keeping up with the Joneses? Double ick. During my "break", I guess I just started to realize that my posts weren't for the pure purpose of keeping my family up to date anymore or for keeping a little record/snapshot of our lives for me to look back on. No, instead, all of sudden I think I started to see if my writing could be as good as or as thought provoking as or as...(fill in the blank)...as the writing of other bloggers--friends and strangers alike. Yep, I lost sight of who my blog is really for. Me. My family. My friends. The people who want to take a look just to see what kinds of things we've been up to lately. Not the people who want to judge the profoundness of my thoughts. Not that anyone like that has ever even read my blog. In fact, in all honesty, I bet they haven't, but still, unfortunately, I think I started writing it for them--those people.

So now that I'm back to the business of blogging, I'm also back to doing it for the right reasons. Which, ugh, that kind of complicates things! Because if I'm trying to keep a record of this season of our lives, then I can't just skip over the last 5 months that I've missed, right?!?! I mean I know I could, but skip Christmas? Molly's birthday? Aaahhhh! I never make things easy on myself. So for that reason, stay tuned! Coming up next? Christmas, 2009! Ha! Ha!

Following in Daddy's Footsteps

6:55 a.m.--A considerable amount of stomping is heard downstairs. Mom and Dad are still in bed. Was that the garage door I just heard?

7:05 a.m.--"Hey, Dad! I'll be working out in the garage. Is it okay if I use the saw?" Um, no.

7:15 a.m.--In order to buy a few more minutes of sleep on a SATURDAY morning, Daddy convinces Son that builders need a set of plans to work from whenever they build something. Result? 15 more minutes of piece and quiet and this:

Oh my word. If you could see these "plans" up close, you would see each "step" carefully labeled and in sequence, boards drawn, and the whole bit. It was/is really quite impressive for a 6 year-old!

7:30 a.m.--A certain someone finally convinced Daddy to get out of bed and into the garage. And thus, the building began. And this was made:

It's a mailbox. And it's almost exactly the way Grayson envisioned it and drew it out in his plans. And he built it. And one for our little neighbor friend.

And now? Now both mailboxes sit outside our front doors, and daily the kids have been "delivering" mail to one another at all hours of the day. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. We (G and M) have gotten cookies and birthday invitations, artwork, letters, and more! And I'll tell you what...If anything can get a kid to WANT to write all day long, it's a personal mailbox outside his front door!

Tis the Season!

Some people (my mother) have accused me of not being up to date on my blog. Huh. Mother, shall we talk about your history with Christmas newsletters?! ;) wink, wink

At this point in my life, the only Black Friday shopping I do is online. Instead of being out with the masses in the stores, it has become our tradition to have a leisurely morning breakfast, then head downtown to Mac's annual Santa Parade. Quirky it is, by all means stunning it is not, but it's got that great small town community feel to it, which is why I (and the kids) love it. It's the kick-off to our "merry season", if you will. And this year especially, we were spoiled with nice weather, lots of familiar faces to chat with, new stuffed animals (because apparently just handing out candy isn't good enough anymore???), and the big guy in red atop a fire truck (which followed the kung fu karate people (?) and the dozens of John Deere tractors--and to think my husband used to consider Mac a big CITY! Ha!).

Anyway, after SEEING Santa from afar, Molly thought that she was ready to visit up close. Turns out it was only a thought because notice who is missing in the picture:

This was Molly:

She was riding the carousel, holding on for dear life...afraid that Santa might, too, decide to take a spin on one of the horses. (By the way, after the parade we high-tailed it down to the Riverfront Carousel in Salem. Amazing that Santa was able to get there so quickly as well! What do you know?)

Following a really fantastic 4 day holiday weekend, it was time to get back in the school groove. Next up? G's Christmas program. Darling, as usual. Here's a little sample for your viewing pleasure:

Molly was a happy and excited spectator throughout.

Awwww. I don't know what else to do but giggle when these 2 are side by side. 12 days. They are TWELVE days apart in age!!!

The happy posers:

Seriously I want these 2 to get married just so we can use all these pictures in the wedding slide show!

As our busy month rolled along (Did I mention that I had jury duty?!) we managed to convince Daddy to let us put up a Christmas tree. Not that he's a bah-humbug grinch, but we are traveling for the holidays this year. So did we really need to put up a tree since we won't even be at our house on Christmas morning? YES! (We knew he'd come around.)

It was sunny and beautiful but C-O-L-D! Like in the teens cold! Seriously. So it was one quick trip out to the tree farm. And if you know me, you know that I don't usually make decisions that involve choices quickly. But put me in 15 degree weather and viola! That first tree right there--perfect!

When it came time to decorate, Molly put up the angel this year.

And that, friends, has been our December (so far) in a nutshell! Happy, Mom?! :)

Way to go, Buddy!

Our boy is having a GREAT 1st grade year! And no matter how I feel about the whole concept of 'Student of the Month' (the teacher in me hates it, by the way) I always contend that a little perspective is good. So, stepping out of my 'teacher' shoes for just a moment and into my 'mom' shoes, boy am I proud of this guy! Heart bursting proud!

Fall Wrap-Up

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now before you all think to yourselves, "It's about time!" I will remind you that TECHNICALLY, it is still Fall, so TECHNICALLY this post is not late! Who cares that the last soccer game may or may not have been on November 5th. WRAP-UP! That's the key word. So here we go...

For the many of you who weren't at the last soccer game, yes, it was pitch black outside! At 5:15 p.m.


Medals and cupcakes--a team tradition.

I have a feeling that this foursome will pose for a lot of team pictures over the years!

Okay, last soccer game. Check.

Next up? The much anticipated sleepover!

The Little Gibbies spent the night right before Thanksgiving, so I got my crafty groove on and came up with this guy. (Last year we did this.)

Cute, eh?

Hmmm, the rest of that night is a blur. I know that we had 4 very happy kids on our hands, but perhaps I, um, waited a little too long to do this recap. Ggrrr.

In fact, this post isn't much of a "wrap up" at all, is it?! Which perplexes me because we were busy NONSTOP; yet apparently I have not much to show for it. Dang.